Zusammenfassung:
The World Trade Organization (WTO) protects Geographical Indication (GI) wines such as Bordeaux and Chianti. However, there is scant empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this protection. We use a triple difference strategy, comparing the differential growth of GI exports to non-GI exports, for WTO joiners versus non-joiners. Our triple difference panel data analysis of EU wine exports from 1995 to 2019 finds a significant effect. When countries join the WTO, their import of GI wines increases by about 25% more than non-GI wines, compared to non-joiners. Our findings suggest that the EU policy of also including wine GIs in bilateral agreements is an attempt to further improve enforcement of GI protection in third countries.